KPCCRadio (via YouTube)

Madman, genius, innovator -- however you describe Nikola Tesla, he was one of the 20th century's greatest scientific minds. Many of our modern technologies were born from ideas Tesla dreamed up in his lab.

Ten days after his 158th birthday, eccentric inventor Nikola Tesla made a surprise appearance at a celebration in his honor at KPCC’s Crawford Family Forum July 20. Squinting up at the lights, he asked host Sanden Totten, “Are you still using AC current?”

The joke, for those not in the know, is that alternating current (AC), one of Tesla’s biggest contributions to the world, is omnipresent today. It’s what brought electricity to the masses, since the DC (direct) current, championed by Tesla’s one-time boss and rival, Thomas Edison, was far less efficient over long distances and much more expensive and dangerous.

Tesla’s vision was to make electricity free to everyone, like breathing air. That part didn’t work out—although one can imagine him being a huge proponent of free worldwide wifi if he lived today.

As Totten and his guests noted on July 20, business and profit were never Tesla’s strong suit—he died broke and alone in a Manhattan hotel room in 1943, at the age of 86. It would seem his inventor’s brain was filled with too many other visions, such as the induction motor, x-rays, radio, remote control, lasers, neon lights, fluorescent bulbs and, of course, the loud, lightning-sparking Tesla coil.

Highlights:

5:00Totten describes Tesla’s early interest in electrical engineering, his fanatical study habits, his brilliant problem solving and the extraordinary letter of recommendation that got him a job with Thomas Edison.

33:25 Tesla’s dream to create wireless electricity, with a video demonstrating the sparks and arcs produced by the Tesla coil built by Southern California Public Radio’s chief engineer Lance Harper. (You can view that video here):